


in a loose sense of the word

by dactyldoes



Category: Paranatural (Webcomic)
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Fluff, Not Canon Compliant, One Shot, Other, bully magnet - Freeform, cartoonish violence, disgustingly so, impracticality ignored, not canon compliant..for now, theres blood and violence but its all garblygook and over in a sec, this is v silly do not take this seriously, very cartoony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-10 02:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11682543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dactyldoes/pseuds/dactyldoes
Summary: Johnny and Max aren’t particularly close. Maybe it was their weird, strained friendship that made Max so wary of the Activity Club and their shenanigans. Maybe it was their weird rivalry/hell-bent friendship that made them such awful partners for their first few rough meetings. Thank god the teachers in Mayview knew the term frenemies and never put them together in science class. (Max is like 67% sure that Johnny would have turned him into some weird ghost Spiderman.)





	in a loose sense of the word

**Author's Note:**

> i made this for @paxcallow and her banging bulmag tumblr (@bullymagnettrash, which i recommend) but it turned out to be good enough to post on my ao3. have at it you hooligans  
> (also "mux" and the lesbian-mom-jhonny thing was also taken from her blog.)

Johnny and Max aren’t particularly close. Maybe it was their weird, strained friendship that made Max so wary of the Activity Club and their shenanigans. Maybe it was their weird rivalry/hell-bent friendship that made them such awful partners for their first few rough meetings. Thank god the teachers in Mayview knew the term _frenemies_ and never put them together in science class. (Max is like 67% sure that Johnny would have turned him into some weird ghost Spiderman.)

When Johnny realized he was haunted, that he was a medium, he had gone to Max for help. Their wobbly, loose friendship had been tied in a knot at that point. Max, if anything, had no shortage of will. Even if he was afraid he would be able to tame a rhino and Johnny was the same way. Johnny wasn’t conceited but he was prideful and in the way that made it difficult for him to search for help. Max appreciated that and Johnny’s honesty. It made for quick frenemies to turn into strained, confused kids into something…well, something _else_.

(Neither of them had actually said the word. The term _bully_ loomed over their heads like a storm cloud. Johnny hadn’t been nice to Max to begin with, and Max, in turn, had been less than pleasant.)

Mr. Spender didn’t care if they were _frenemies_ or _friends_ or _enemies_ because apparently, he’s oblivious to anything that isn’t written out for him. Thus, he paired Johnny and Max for patrol. Isabel had a nasty bite on her shoulder that prevented her from lightning-fast movements and Ed was much too worried about her as well as his own troubles. And Isaac .. Isaac had disappeared into his own little world of anime and angsty personal issues.

“And remember,” Mr. Spender had told them as they left the school, “the plan is to stay safe and call us if there’s a problem!”

They defenestrated that plan as soon as they saw the thing. Whatever it was, it was big and it clouded their phones’ signals. Whatever it was it caused Johnny and Max to be unable to reach their friends and they had to act on their own accord. Max had taken out his metal bat and attracted several sharp, rusted objects to his weapon. Johhny was still getting used to his spectral and his arms lit aflame, then the fire defused itself, then let green and blue sparks fly off his arms wildly. Max side-stepped a little farther away from him.

“D'ya have any idea what we do with this thing?” Johnny asked. His ghost was roaring for a good battle and it caused him to itch to move. His head was running circles around this thing; big and an ugly greenish blue that looked like swamp barf and it didn’t look exactly fast but it looked heavy and mean. He wanted to punch it in its dumb face and see what would happen but Mr. Spender’s worrying and Isabel and Max’s yelling and Isaac’s sanctimonious lectures had caused him to stop being so devil-may-care.

Max didn’t get the chance to respond before he had to suddenly rise to action and act before he thought. He yelled to Johnny, “run!” Before Max himself ran to the right of the road and hurled himself behind a particularly large chunk of junk in someone’s yard.

Johnny could’ve thought about running, too, but he didn’t. Why would he run when he could fight? He didn’t want to be super careless about his safety but running away was a _whole other thing—_

Johnny didn’t even notice the murky blue hand that rushed at him. Forge (the name of his spirit, if'cha didn’t know.) responded by taking Johnny into his control and using the Avatar State™ to force Johnny to move his body. In one fluid motion, Johnny’s arm raised and lit the bad boy up; Johnny’s arm was embraced with warm, red fire. The ghost shrieked in agony and recoiled its arm just long enough for Forge to admonish Johnny and release him from the heightened state of perception.

When Johnny’s eyes clear and he can hear things again, Max has yelled out for him. His entire right arm has been lit aflame as he stared at the large ghost. Before he knew it, Max is by his side again. “Oh. Hi, Mux.”

Max seemed to be majorly underwhelmed by Johnny’s greeting. He was fuming with black spectral energy, just like an exhaust pipe would. “Hi, Johnny,” Max responded, almost as cheerfully, “did you see what the thing he was made of?”

Johnny nodded. “Water.”

“Gross water, but yeah, water. Which means that you’re _perfect_ for this.” Max was starting to beam although his eyes were darting back between his spiky-haired friend-in-the-loose-sense-of-the-word. “My attacks would go right through it.” Through Max’s smile, there was a trace of nervousness. Johnny could feel Forge flare up and want to hit the ghost again. Johnny felt no compulsion to disagree.

If Johnny was willing to do anything—he was willing to punch something.

All he needed was Max.

“Say, Mux—” Another hand was being struck down on top of them and Max was engulfed by black vapor — it was disorientating but Johnny could find the light. His right arm’s fire deflated and the fire sprung up again on his left, lighting a flame and firing like a bullet. The arm of the murky grey-green-blue ghost vaporized and left nothing but steam. Max watched in awe and the black spectral energy soon left him, too. Johnny only continued. “Do you trust me?”

Max’s response is immediate. “Of course I trust you. _We’re friends_.”

Johnny practically short-circuited. If it wasn’t for Forge taking him into the heightened state of perception again and forcing him to move and pay attention to the battle at hand he would have lost his cool-kid persona. With a quick reprimand, Johnny was freed from his fiery spirit and allowed back to the friend at hand.

Johnny grinned self confidently and turned his back to Max as he stood in front of him. He prepared his arms, spread out at his sides, and looked straight ahead. He sure was confident, now that he heard the right words. “Okay, Mux, hop on.”

Max blinked and didn’t move. “What now?”

"Y'heard me! G'on my back! There's no time to argue, Maxie, y'gotta get on." Johnny waited impatiently for Max's weight to be added. Once Max did, Johnny made sure to get a tight grip on him before hauling him up and securing him. He didn't let the fire in his gut turn into fire on his body like spikes. Instead, he turned his head as far as he could and made a biting motion to the bat. Max, as confused as he looked, brought the bat and all its little accessories it gathered over to Johnny's head. And, with horror from both parties, (re: Max and Forge.) Johnny put his mouth on the side of the bat and bit it. Hard.

Sounds like some kinda Halsey song. My Ghost Likes Your Ghost, Can We Be Friends? (Never mind, not Halsey, maybe a Troye Sivan kinda deal. Plus, they were already friends, so it didn't make any sense.)

Anyway, Max looked like he wanted to _scream._

Johnny's mouth left the bat and it left red-hot metal in its place, almost melting. Max's face read, _why did you do that_ and _i'm trying to think of the reasons that you would want to do that_ AND _THEY'RE NOT COMING UP JOHNNY JONATHON JHONNY._ 1) Johnny really wanted to try that, 2) it looks wicked, 3) it'll really help Max's hits actually hit and not go through it like liquid.

Nevertheless, Johnny charged. He didn't give Max any breathing room and certainly didn't allow room for questions and uncertainty. They had (unbeknownst to Max) friendship fused together and that their fusion was named _TACTICAL CHARGE SQUAD_ and it will horrify Max until his dying breath.

But when they actually came in contact with the spectral beast, the red-hot bat and the combined spectral force that they carried sent the beast reeling. It was terrified, after trying to hit them twice, but it could not run away. As soon as they made contact, it wailed a horrible sound and exploded. Horrified, Max dropped the bat and clung to Johnny. Johnny stayed upright, although he was a little wobbly.

"'S over," Johnny said once the metaphorical dust had settled. The jello remains of the ghost had stopped moving. Max didn't let go and clung tightly, even if he did lift his head. "M' hands are full. Can y'call the guys?"

"Oh! Yeah, I can, totally."

"Ay, Mux, d'ya know somefing?"

"I know..a good amount of things. Enough things. Why?" Max's elbows were on Johnny's shoulders and there was a phone on the top of his head. He could feel Max dialing the number.

"D'ya know if spectral remains n' stuff can get on y'clothes? I got this...y'know..gooey stuff an'..'s gross.."

Max laughed before he put the phone on his ear and there was one arm rung around Johnny's neck as he leaned back. "No. I know, it feels gross, but it's something you can wipe off easily. It's not actually on your clothes, it's on your body because ghosty stuff doesn't respond to tangible human items like clothes. If you were to put it in a washing machine, the gooey stuff, it would go right through and lay on the floor until another ghost ate it -- hey, Mr. Spender."

Johnny, purely on impulse, yelled in the middle of the street. It was like consistently when people made calls around him, he was horrible when people called their parents. " _Hi, Mr. Spender!!_ "

Even over the phone, they could hear Spender's nervous laughter. It was muffled and only Max heard it, even though Johnny bounced Max like a kid trying to do something cool with Mentos and Coke. Max was unfazed. Johnny whisper-yelled at him. " _Put him on speaker!_ "

Max put him on speaker. Max lay across Johnny, with Max's head on his friend's shoulder and the phone in front of both of their faces. Johnny is idly reminded of a cat who's too tired to walk. Which is weird, because didn't Max charge at all and was covered by the human shield that Johnny is. Never mind that, friendship fusing can make people tired. As simple as that. "Spender, you're on speaker."

"--ow what to do and..ah? I'm on speaker? Hello, to you too, Johnny. Anyway. We couldn't contact you. You two must have about fifteen missed calls total. You were gone for a long time, forty-five minutes, you should have been back within twenty. You weren't supposed to be gone that long. What happened?"

The two of them answered at the same time.  
"Tactical charge squads," Johnny said, obviously overly calm.  
"A living swamp," Max said blankly.  
When the two of them looked at each other, they realized they were both talking about different parts of the day.  
"A friendship fusing and a living swamp monster," Johnny said again.  
"Friendship in the making," Max said, boringly.

"..Wonderful. Anyway, hurry back! I need to call your parents and tell them why you aren't home." His speaking turns into mumbling. They can still hear him regardless. "What should I tell them?"

"Tell my dad that I made a friend. That'll satisfy him." Max said, tightening the weak headlock he had Johnny in a little bit more. It was more of a reassuring squeeze that the whole 'bully' thing was over and that they were friends.

"Tell m' moms, or one of 'em, that I fought a big monster. They'll understand." Johnny said cheerily. He had no doubt in his mind at least one of his moms would be rooting for him in his house. The other might be low-key concerned but it wouldn't matter as long as he returned home in one piece. A Scooby Doo band-aid could fix anything.

Spender didn't respond for a short while. "You heard that? Ah...I suppose I will, then."

He hung up. Johnny and Max stayed still for a little, with Max's phone still outstretched. Then they exchanged a look at each other and then at the jello all around them and the slightly-melted bat that was on the ground from Max's short-lasted pure shock and Max could hear Scrapdragon's pissy attitude a few feet away. Johnny could feel Forge's pride in his gut and then, only a second later, both of them burst into laughter.

_They were friends._


End file.
